OPEN HOUSE: Sunday, May 2nd, 1:00 PM-3:00 PM. The legal two family brownstone at 148 West 120th Street was sold back in 2006 for $997K and is now back on the market. The 17 foot wide, 4 bedroom, 3.5 bath, 3,380 square foot property is in move-in condition and still has 10 years left on a government tax abatement. The house is currently asking for $1.795 million and it seems to have minimal original details in the interior, but the finishes look to be a bit better than average for a newly renovated brownstone in the area. Just a half a block west of Lenox, the building is just a hair outside of the Mount Morris Park Historic District. The nearest subways are a quick walk to the 2,3 express at 125th Street or 116th Street. House photo by Ulysses
OPEN HOUSE: Sunday, May 2nd, 1:00 PM-3:00 PM. The legal two family brownstone at 148 West 120th Street was sold back in 2006 for $997K and is now back on the market. The 17 foot wide, 4 bedroom, 3.5 bath, 3,380 square foot property is in move-in condition and still has 10 years left on a government tax abatement. The house is currently asking for $1.795 million and it seems to have minimal original details in the interior, but the finishes look to be a bit better than average for a newly renovated brownstone in the area. Just a half a block west of Lenox, the building is just a hair outside of the Mount Morris Park Historic District. The nearest subways are a quick walk to the 2,3 express at 125th Street or 116th Street. House photo by Ulysses
I applaude who ever built this place even though I whish it had some original detail. These are some of the best finishes I have seen in Harlem. Now they just need to drop the price 500k and the place will be sold! The bubble is over people get your head out of the clouds.
ReplyDeleteCorey,
ReplyDeleteA similar house in Brooklyn is 3mil. One 20 blocks south of this home is 5 mil. You don't think a beautiful home in Harlem is worth 1.5 mil? Would you like to see prices drop pre-boom?
The house still has a 10 year govnt abatement, meaning the taxes are probably $2,000 annually. Someone with some money would have to be a fool to overlook such a great deal.
ReplyDeleteIf this home were in Brooklyn it may be worth 3 million. We live in Harlem. There are no sales comps for homes in that price range.I think 1.5 should be a list price. They would be lucky to get anything close to that. The market here has been stagnant for over a year and is just now starting to pick up.A home 10 blocks up would sell in range of 1.2. 9 months ago a 3 family gut renovated and such sold for 1,050 on 132nd between 7th and 8th. This is a great investment for a owner to live in one and rent out the other. As for investment the rents in Harlem are maxing out in the high 2's. That doesn't even begin to cover mortgage. I do happen to think this is a lovely home and Harlem is a lovely community. We are also a lower economic area plagued with problems and lack of infrastructure. I will be more than ecstatic if this place gets any were near 1.8 but it's not going to happen anytime soon.
ReplyDeleteCorey,
ReplyDeleteI don't know if you've heard, but the market has been stagnant across America and the world over. That doesn't mean that people should give their homes away. This is Manhattan, for God's sake. 10 minutes to midtown from any train on 125th. Harlem will once again be the neighborhood its original developers intended it to be.
Corey, I have no idea what you are talking about. The bubble is over? We have been in a recession for the past year and a half. The bubble has is only just beginning. My only guess is you are a buyer eagerly waiting (hoping) for prices to come down so you can get in. This is a wonderful piece of property and I think $1.795 is right on target. $550 sq. ft. is spot on.
ReplyDeleteI tend to agree with Corey in that the neighborhood makes buyers hesitate because of lack of amenities and persistent (if low level) crime. A slightly lower price is often the deciding factor. I think people probably overpaid during the boom and like everyone else have to accept that we now live in a different economy - one that will not go that far up again. Harlem in particular may have been touted as a neighborhood that would develop quickly but as we have seen, it is developing slowly and in cases, very slowly - again, buyers today will hesitate because of that.
ReplyDeleteHouses in a good area that are move-in ready have been selling for the $1.5 million range. This house is in one of the more rapidly developing areas just outside of one of the most desirable landmark districts in the city.
ReplyDeleteHouses are selling in the area in this price range, particularly as you get closer to Morningside Park. The values here are unmistakable compared to even the adjoining areas in the UWS. As more of the condos fill up (they may not) we can hope that some retail follows and the one that is there makes it. If so, then there is strong upside potential here.
ReplyDeleteThe Best Yet market is indeed the best yet, and people from the Columbia area are trekking down to it.
Renovated townhouses in Mt. Morris Park are trading well north of $1.5mm. Down the street, 116 West 120th sold for $1.5mm about 6 months ago and that needed a renovation that could easily cost a million bucks (trust me, we looked at it), although that had a lot of original detail and was 20 feet wide.
ReplyDeleteWe purchased our four family renovated brownstone just within the Mt Morris District , 20 feet wide, in 2005, for 1.8 mil, and two years ago the bank said it was 2 million . one year ago (actually less, 9/09), the bank said no way, its 1.5 mil. I think its probably in the 1. 6 to 1. 75 range at this point. so we lost some dough but thats ok. we are staying , Harlem, and making it a legal three soon with owners triplex. We are in it for the long haul. In five , ten years , (that will come very fast folks , dont kid yourselves), we will see what Harlem is like. Any predictions? Will all those condos on FDB be filled by then you think? Will Samuelson have opened his Red Rooster? Whats Harlem like in five years? in ten? Your thoughts :) .....
ReplyDeleteAnon, 8:34,
ReplyDeleteI purchased my 4-family home for 1.4 mil right at the peak of the boom. Its right off of 5th and 127th though . I'm almost certain I can get a price within that same range. However, the real estate fee would put a dent in my pocket.
Having said that, I plan on staying in Harlem for a very long time. Harlem is still in its early, even premature, stages. Once it begins to crawl, and then walk, on its own, my house should easily be worth 2.5 million. Maybe in less than 10 years. Watch out for all the development on 125th street coming your way.
I just purchased one in Mt. Morris Park--20 ft., five stories, and paid 1.65. I feel that it was very fair and things are looking up in the very near future in this section.
ReplyDeleteWas just on Property Shark and have been looking for a house for 6 months. Comps for this type of property are $350 /sq ft (deals over the past 6 months and a 1/4 mile radius). That implies a value of less than $1.2MM. Nothing in harlem trades at $550 / sq ft that is not a lux condo.
ReplyDeleteI was at the open house finishes are actually pretty weak. GE stove, Marble pattern tiles in the bathroom, crappy wooden cabinets in the kitchen. Plust the rental apartment was crap. The kitchen in there was a $8K kitchen... That is not going to get a premium price.
The 20 footer in MMP is a good comp. Cut by 25% for width and 10 % for location and you get to $1.1M, which is what this place is worth. $340 / sq ft.
Seems like a lot of real estate brokers posting on this one... So much hype.
Cut another 20% for the 5th floor on the MMP place. I bid $900K.
ReplyDeleteCut another 20% because its "make everyone that rents and doesn't own anything feel good" day.
ReplyDeleteCut another 20% for those that missed the train on Harlem and now want to see these brownstones go for $1 again.
ReplyDeleteAnon 7:00am & 7:20am...thanks for the spot of humor! Must admit my own guilt at a bit of hyperbolism...fine, no idea if a bubble really is on the way (definitely not a broker this end!), but there is a curbedish sense of hope/desperation on here at times of people willing prices to come down, for reasons which I can only imagine they want to get on board. I think my good friend Sai (Curbed) secretly wants to live in Harlem, hence the constant bashing.
ReplyDeleteCut 10% for location? What are you talking about? This is in a great location.
Folks i.e. the real estate professionals posting nonsensical logic on the ridiculous price offered for this townhouse, pls review Corcoran and Prudential Douglas Elliman Manhattan townhouse market reports for 2010 Q1. Price per sq foot for town homes in Harlem has been trending down for the last 2 years. The price per sq ft is in the neighborhood of $350.
ReplyDeleteI think price per sq ft is a difficult measure for townhouses. I renovated my townhouse on 120th btw 5th and Lenox several years ago with central air, all new plumbing and electrical. I also stripped all of the existing details and had them repaired and refinished and tried to match new details with the original. I doubt the price per sq ft for my house bears any relationship to a currently occupied townhouse 10 blocks north.
ReplyDelete1:47pm, nonsense, furthermore perhaps a currently occupied townhouse 10 blocks north of you might have also undergone all the upgrades you have and even more, perhaps some that put your place to shame, why is that not possible? I don't know you or your townhome but I've been in some rather plush townhouses on 141st & Convent that I highly doubt your townhouse can even approach (in high end state of the art upgrades). I understand it may not fit into your mental paradigm, but believe it or not, there are people with townhouses 10+ blocks North of yours that I am quite sure will humble your digs...
ReplyDeleteLet's focus on the topic at hand: why the heck this place is so over priced that it has broken the comment record on HB. The secondary topic is also important: why do all the brokers and townhouse owners loose their sense of reality in term value. Case in point - People who advise me completely disregard past transactions and push me to pay close to asking. I feel sorry for them, sad creatures.
ReplyDelete@11:14pm, paying close to asking is relative. If a property is priced reasonably, then chances are it will go for close to asking. I think articles like these generate a lot of responses b/c invariably it brings up a 'my neighborhood vs yours' discussion which at the end of the day is rather pointless since it is Harlem at the end of the day.
ReplyDeleteOh, and I wish people would give it a rest over original details vs modernized renovations. Some people want a modernized, condo feel within a brownstone exterior, whilst others want the original details. I can see the benefits of both. At the end of the day, it's a home and if YOU are happy with it, that is all that matters. It is like a primary/high-school playground on here at times!
Max 380 per sq ft. (1.2m) Some one show me a recent deal for more.
ReplyDeleteI saw this house last week. It's very well laid out and has a great feel but I have to agree that the kitchen is not well done and the bathrooms are very standard looking at best. The yard and deck are nice. I think it should be priced at 1.5 max but, considering the owners paid almost a million for it and had to do a gut reno, I'd be surprised if they will take what its really worth. Probably would rather just stay there than lose any money on it.
ReplyDelete@ anonymous. The owner's did not do the gut renovation. They purchased it through a program through the City and it was renovated when they purchased it.
ReplyDeleteThe price is high but would be a steal today considering what it will be worth 5 years from now.
I think this house should at least sell for 1.5M, it is very nicely done.
ReplyDelete